Shade of Avocado - Part 44
Celebration (Piper)
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In the morning, I picked up Tracy from the hotel and brought her back to the house to assist her before for the wedding. Aunt Jo would work with Josie in getting ready. After we were all spiffed up, Avery, Tracy, and I headed over to the Eldorado Hotel for the ceremony.
It turns out that Avery’s hockey friend, Carlos, had himself ordained online a few years ago so he could perform a wedding for his cousin, Marisa. Not only that, but Marisa was a skilled videographer and still photographer, and she agreed to preserve Josie and Tracy’s wedding in pictures.
Carlos met with me and Avery before the ceremony to have the two of us sign as witnesses on the marriage license. We looked over the room, that on other days might be a conference room, but the hotel and the florist did a beautiful job of transforming it into a romantic wedding chapel. Avery and I stood on either side of Carlos.
“Do you think they overdid it?” Avery asked. “We’re not going to fill four rows of chairs today.”
I laughed. “Aunt Jo and Brooke will have their choices, I guess. And here comes the congregation!”
Aunt Jo and Brooke took seats on either side of the central aisle. As the music played, first Tracy walked down the aisle in her forest green dress, holding a bouquet of white and pink flowers. After she got to the front and turned, Josie stepped through the door in her moss green dress carrying a similar arrangement of flowers. The two brides beamed at each other as Josie approached the front.
Carlos conducted a lovely ceremony to allow Tracy and Josie to declare, before the heavens and nature, family and friends, their eternal love and devotion toward each other.
After the exchange of rings, Carlos announced, “I pronounce you, wife and wife! You may kiss the…I mean, you both…brides may kiss.”
As the pair laughed, they could barely manage to kiss, but they did accomplish it. Instead of processing out down the aisle, all of us gathered at the front of the room to congratulate the newly married couple. Then Marisa began arranging us in various combinations to take photographs.
Josie asked Marisa, “Does your camera have a timer?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied.
“Okay, can we take a picture with all of us, including you, Marisa? You and Carlos stand right in the middle between Tracy and me, okay?”
After Josie got her requested shot, we proceeded across the hall where another room was set up for us to have lunch. Avery stood up and gave a toast to Josie and Tracy.
“I wish a lifetime of happiness and health to my sister, Josie and my new sister, Tracy. I’m looking forward to giving you as hard a time as I did before you got married.”
Josie raised her glass. “Right back at you, little bro!”
“And the two of us will have no hesitation ganging up on you,” Tracy added.
Conversation flowed easily as we enjoyed a meal of New Mexican cuisine while fiesta music played in the background.
Aunt Jo sat across the table from Avery and spoke up to ask a question. “Well Avery, do you suppose it will be your turn soon? Have you and the young lady been inspired by today’s events?”
Avery swallowed nervously and darted a look in my direction. “We…we’ve only been dating a few months, Aunt Jo. We’ll have to see.”
“But you have been together almost constantly for this whole time,” Tracy added. “Come on, we all know you’ve been living together. That’s no secret.”
“Yeah, well, we want to be sure it’ll work, won’t we?” Avery replied. “How long did you two live together before you ended up getting married?”
Josie wipes her mouth with her napkin and acts as though she could not hold back any longer. “Avery, it’s so obvious you are playing ‘what about’ so hard. I can look at Piper and tell something’s up.”
I leaned toward Avery. “Everyone you’d want to tell is here. They want to hear it. Might as well tell them.”
“Josie and Tracy, this is supposed to be your big day. But fine, you all want other news. After you left last night, I asked Piper to marry me.”
While the fiesta music played on in the background, the rest of the room was silent with all eyes on me. I realized it was my line. “Oh, you’re waiting for confirmation. I said, ‘yes!’”
Josie stood and cheered and lifted her glass. “It’s my turn to make a toast. Piper and Avery, you have made our special day even happier!”
Avery had gifted Josie and Tracy the next two nights at the Eldorado to start off their honeymoon, so they did not have far to travel. Carlos and Marisa wished the newlyweds well as they departed the luncheon. Brooke needed to head off for her conference presentation.
“Thank you for including me in your celebration,” Brooke said. “You two deserve all the happiness in the world. Avery, it’s always good to see you. I’ll be in touch soon. About how long it will take to drive to Rio Rancho?”
“An hour, maybe a little less,” Avery replied.
“Guess I’ll stop in the restroom first,” she remarked.
Being a girl, I was conditioned to respond to such a remark. “I’ll go with you.”
When I returned from the restroom, we brought Aunt Jo back to the house where she talked with us the rest of the afternoon and evening about our own anticipated wedding, asking us a multitude of questions we had no answers for yet. After we had a light dinner, Aunt Jo spent the night in the guest room. We took her to the airport the next morning to fly back to Florida.
“Now don’t wait too long to pin down that date,” Aunt Jo admonished us. “I want to be there for it.”
Avery hugged his aunt. “You’ll be the first guest invited, Aunt Jo. Thanks for giving us a whole list of things to decide once we have the date, too.”